Russia has its foreign policy and human rights differences with the United States. Yet once past the diplomatic dustups, a look inside the Russian economy finds a growing number of eager tech entrepreneurs trying to capitalize on the markets finding success online.

Russia has long been strong in math and science, but that doesn't necessarily mean Russian entrepreneurs will attract capital from American technology investors. Last week, members of Skolkovo - a 3-year-old initiative to emulate Silicon Valley's success near Moscow - toured the Bay Area to pitch for funding, but also to take feedback from investors on how to make their businesses successful.

Asked about the political differences between the two countries, the Skolkovo team dismissed any potential rift. "That's not an issue," says Olo Brukovskaya, co-founder of education startup Choister. "The biggest barrier we meet here, when we come to do business and introduce our projects, is the cultural barrier."

Moscow wants to be seen as friendly to entrepreneurs, and its efforts are paying off. Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and IBM have all sunk money into Skolkovo in recent years. There was some worry that President Vladimir Putin wouldn't be as forward-thinking as previous leaders and that Skolkovo could suffer.

"Theoretically I would agree with that," says Roman Karachinsky, CEO of media app News360. "But I haven't seen any effects."

Russia has long depended on natural resources to power its economy, so diversification efforts are much needed. But so is eradicating a business culture reputed to depend on graft and strong-arm tactics.

Igor Bogachev, Skolkovo's executive director, notes that Russian investors approach startup ventures very differently than most American investors. He makes the analogy that if a business is a train, investors in America are typically happy to buy a ticket on the train and - while they will certainly chime in on the train's heading - be content with periodic board meetings.

"In Russia, investors are usually buying the train," Bogachev says. "For visionaries, this is not good at all."

Karachinsky says that recently it's become fashionable for Russians who made a fortune in natural resources to start a venture capital firm. And that's not necessarily good either.

"They don't care about the money, really. It's a plaything. There's very rarely good people who manage it," he says. Though this is changing for the better, it's not happening fast enough for Karachinsky's tastes. He looks at other countries pulling ahead in the global markets, including China, India, Brazil and Chile, and worries that Russia is not doing enough to keep pace.

"There's a lot of money, but it's all very dumb," he says. "It's ruined many companies that could have been very successful."

Skolkovo's Bogachev estimates that 80 percent of the private funding for tech companies comes out of profits made in oil and gas. "This is why the government decided to invest into Skolkovo project."

Not that everything's been smooth sailing. Viktor Voronkov notes on the Skolkovo community blog that "rumors of corruption, waste and complacence have dogged (Skolkovo) since the announcement of its inception. There have been resignations and arrests, and in April its headquarters was raided by the Russian police" as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of $746,000.

Brukovskaya, who is now based in San Francisco, says one of the most important things is for other Russian entrepreneurs to help break Russian stereotypes. Russians don't spend their free time swigging vodka and eating caviar, and not all their money is tied up with corrupt Soviet-era oligarchs.

"That's why American people think Russia is wild country. Of course, there are some people with a bunch of money that don't know about business or venture capital," she says, noting the same thing happens in America. She says the more important metric is the rate of change. Skolkovo was formed in 2010, and makes meaningful waves on the startup stage.

"You have to keep in mind that Russia had no history in business culture and economics for 70 years," she says, referring to the reign of communism under the Soviet Union. "It's gotten better and better."

Brukovskaya notes that Russians have a reputation in America for being too direct, even cold. "We come to ask for something - and we start with that. We never give compliments. We never waste time" with small talk, she says. "Americans don't work like that." She's trying to soften up, even taking classes in American business practices and social norms.

However, the flip side is that most investors love people who don't beat around the bush or use marketing-speak about their products. "That's why it's so easy for me to talk to them," Brukovskaya says, cracking a smile. "I know the 15 questions they'll ask me - and when I pitch them, I catch all of this."

Karachinsky, while Russian, has spent most of his adult years in Canada and the U.S. He's based in San Francisco with a team of three (the rest of the company is in Russia) and speaks without a trace of accent. "I prefer the direct approach, but I don't know if it's my Russian background or just being a CEO."

Much of Skolkovo's tour is to create a rubber stamp, hoping its name certifies entrepreneurs and their ventures as viable for the world stage. "We need to justify our model of choosing the projects," says Katia Gaika, Skolkovo's deputy director for education and research. "Success here means we're doing right - our selection process is up to the world standards."

Yet Silicon Valley has already been through one burst bubble. And high-profile IPO flops like Groupon and a long list of well-funded startups with suspect revenue models have some people bracing for a second bubble. Investing in Internet companies is still a relatively new field in the grand scheme of things, so perhaps the Silicon Valley way of thinking about investing needs its own disruption.

Gaika notes that Skolkovo and Russian tech companies are still in the nascent stages and that Skolkovo has government funding for business infrastructure secured through 2020.

"Even if the bubble's going to be (in the U.S.), and our projects don't get (American) investment, they'll still get investment from us," she says. "We'll provide the infrastructure if they have to move back home until the bubble is over."